Sports Archive

SPORTS ARCHIVE

Men's Hockey Rolls On

03/26/2013 -
10:00 AM

St. Cloud State men’s hockey team participated in their final WCHA Final Five at the Xcel Energy Center on Friday, next season the Huskies will be a part of the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference. The Huskies played the Wisconsin Badgers in the semifinals matchup on Friday afternoon. The Badgers were able to come away with a 4-1 victory to eliminate the Huskies from the tournament. Senior, Co-Captain, Ben Hanowski scored the Huskies lone goal during the game on the power play. The loss put the Huskies on the bubble for making the NCAA tournament and make for a nerve-racking Saturday of scoreboard watching. The Huskies got the help they needed from other teams across the nation on Saturday night to increase their likelihood of making the National Tournament.

In the selection show on Sunday night it was announced the Huskies would play in the tournament. St. Cloud State University will play in the Midwest Regional in Toledo, Ohio. The Huskies are a #4 seed in the regional and will play the #1 seed at the site, Notre Dame. SCSU (23-15-1) faces off with the Irish (25-12-3) on Saturday at 12:30 central time in Toledo, Ohio. The game can be heard on the KVSC airwaves with Co-Sports Directors Scott Gross and Gina Carlson. Our pregame show will begin at noon on Saturday. View the complete bracket for the NCAA tournament here. Should the Huskies win on Saturday they would play in the Regional Championship game on Sunday afternoon; the winner of that game will advance to the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh on April 11 and 13.

Other news and notes from the weekend include:

Head Coach Bob Motzko was named the 2014 assistant coach of the US National Junior team. That team will compete in 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship Dec. 26, 2013-Jan. 5, 2014, in Malmo, Sweden. It’s Motzko’s first time as an assistant coach for the team.

A new Minnesota hockey tournament will debut next season, with Minnesota as the permanent host. The participants will rotate between St. Cloud State University, Bemidji State, Minnesota State Mankato and Minnesota Duluth. The event will be held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on January 24-25, 2014. Ticket information and a contest to determine the name will be announced in the upcoming months.

Senior, Co-Captain, Drew LeBlanc was named a Top 10 Hobey Baker finalist. He joins nine other collegiate hockey players that are still in the running for the prestigious award. The WCHA First Team member was also the winner of both the WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year and the Player of the Year. He’s charted 13 goals and a nation leading 37 assists this season. Vote for LeBlanc in the second round of voting!